A Guide to Publication in
Educational Technology
Steve C. Yuen, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Southern Mississippi
E-mail: Steve.Yuen@usm.edu
and
Patrivan K. Yuen
Technical Services/Systems Librarian
William Carey University
E-mail: pyuen@wmcarey.edu
2008 SITE International Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 5, 2008

Reason for Writing
for Professional Journals
• Reporting research and new ideas
• Sharing ideas
• Satisfaction
• Providing instruction
• Achieving recognition
• Getting Tenure and promotion

Planning Before Writing
• Have an idea and/or identify the
specific journal.
• Determine the audience, types of
articles published in the journal, and
the type of journal.
• Review a recent issue of the journal
• Send a letter of inquiry to the editor
to determine if a manuscript is
appropriate for a specific journal.

Types of Journal Articles
• Research articles
• Quantitative research
• Qualitative research
• Descriptive articles
• Practice-based articles
• Position papers
• Book reviews

Journal Survey
• An online survey conducted in April 2007.
• 70 editors from various journals related to
educational technology were invited to
participate.
• 42 editors responded in 6 weeks.
• Consisted of 27 items such as journal title,
name of editor, email address, frequency of
issue, publication format, circulation,
audience, acceptance rate, refereed/non
refereed journal, number of readings,
desired length of articles, preferred style,
submission and review process, and
publishing fee if any.

Journal Survey Results
• Frequency of Issue
• range from 2 to 12 per year
• average is about 4 issues per year
• Publication Format
• 63% printed, 37 online
• Acceptance Rate
• range from 9% to 80%
• Average acceptance rate is about 32%
• Refereed
• 93% refereed, 7% non-refereed

Journal Survey Results (Cont.)
• Number of Readings
• range from 1 to 8 times
• average is about 2.7 times
• Time for Editorial Decision
• range from 2 to 36 weeks
• average is about 12 weeks
• Time for Publication
• range from 2 weeks to 2 years
• average is about 20.6 weeks

Journal Survey Results (Cont.)
• Preferred Style
• 74% APA
• 12% Chicago
• 10% Others
• 2% MLA
• 2% Turabian
• Author’s Guidelines
• 93% Yes, 7% No
• Electronic Submission
• 95% Yes, 5% No

Journal Survey Results (Cont.)
• Open Submission
• 100% Yes
• Copies Needed for Submission
• range from 1 to 5 copies
• Editorial Assistance
• 79% Yes, 21% No
• Honorarium Paid
• 5% Yes, 95% No
• Complimentary Issue for Author
• 69% Yes, 31% No

http://journal.yuen.us/

By Acceptance Rate
http://journal.yuen.us/

Advance Search
http://journal.yuen.us/

Before Starting to Write
• Drop down ideas in a free form
and create a general outline for
the paper.
• What is the message of the paper?
• What is the new result or
contribution that you want to
describe?
• What do you want to convince
readers of?

Writing the Manuscript
• Tell them what you set up to
do
• Tell them what you did
• Tell them what you found
• Discuss what you found
• Follow the style and format

Writing Tips
• Organize your paper logically and coherently.
• Have a clear structure.
• Be clear, crisp, simple, informal and direct.
• Use active verbs and straightforward language so readers
can tell who did what, when, and where.
• Let your scholarship show in the depth and insight of
what you have to say, not in the way you say it.
• Bear in mind what your task is to explain, describe and
clarify – not to impress the reader or to complicate the
topic.
• Minimize your use of gimmicks such as capitalization,
underlining or italics.
• Use strong, simple openings and closings.

Submitting the Manuscript
• Have your colleagues or co-authors
critically evaluate the manuscript before
sending it to a journal.
• Follow submission guidelines.
• Double-check and triple-check your
manuscript is error-free (including
grammatical errors, stylistic errors).
• Masking the submission (remove all
references to your name and other info
that would reveal your identity).
• Send your manuscript out to only one
journal at a time.

The Review Process
• Preliminary editorial review
• Editorial review (2 to 4 reviewers)
• Double-masked review process.
• Take several weeks or months for
reviewers to complete their
review.
• The editor’s decision
• Revise and Resubmit
• Accept Pending Revision
• Reject

Common Problems
• Lack of fit between the manuscript and the chosen
journal.
• Failure to establish the importance of the topic.
• Too many grammatical, spelling, or other
mechanical errors.
• Failure to employ the writing style designated by
the chosen journal.
• Poor choice of title; incomplete or otherwise
inappropriate literature review.
• Lack of organization.
• Methodological problems.
• Data analysis problems.
• Lack of coherent conclusions, limitations, or
implications.

Tips for Successful Publishing
• Budget sufficient time for first draft, second, and
third draft.
• Get feedback from colleagues and professors.
• Ask for criticism, not praise.
• Find out the genre of the intended journal as
well as the acceptance rate.
• Aim for journals in your field for which the
manuscript is appropriate. You will get the best
feedback from more prestigious journals.
• Check the journal guidelines before sending your
manuscript.

THE END
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